The Spanish prosecution on Wednesday March 27 demanded two and a half years in prison against the former strongman of Spanish football Luis Rubiales for having kissed Jenni Hermoso without her consent. In Spain, the prosecution presents its requisitions, the date of the trial is not yet known.
On August 20 in Sydney, during the final of the Women’s World Cup won by the “Roja”, he had, in front of the cameras of the whole world, grabbed Jennifer Hermoso’s head with both hands and kissed her by surprise on the mouth. He always said number 10 agreed. A version denied by Jenni Hermoso who said she “felt vulnerable and victim (…) of an impulsive and sexist act, inappropriate and without any consent on [her] part”. This kiss caused a wave of indignation in Spain and abroad, forcing Mr. Rubiales to resign the following month.
He could therefore also put him behind bars for two crimes, the first of sexual assault, for which the prosecution requests a year in prison, the second of coercion, for which the required sentence is a year and a half in prison. The public prosecutor also requests that Mr. Rubiales be placed on probation for two years after the completion of his sentence and that he pay 50,000 euros in compensation to the player for the sole offense of sexual assault.
Pressure against the player
Since a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a criminal category bringing together all types of sexual violence, including rape. The offense of “coercion” refers to the pressure, direct and indirect, exerted on the player in the days following the incident to convince her to say that the kiss had been consensual, in particular by means of a video.
Three other people from the Spanish Football Federation are being prosecuted in this case for the same offense of coercion. The prosecution is therefore demanding a year and a half in prison against Jorge Vilda, the former coach of the women’s team, Ruben Rivera, the former marketing director of the federation, and Albert Luque, the sports director of the men’s team. The prosecution is also asking these three men and Mr. Rubiales to pay compensation of 50,000 euros to be paid “jointly” to Jenni Hermoso for the crime of coercion.
The judge of the national hearing who led the investigation concluded that this kiss had “not been consented” and was “a unilateral initiative, made by surprise”, explained the judicial body in January. “A kiss on the mouth affects the sphere of intimacy relating to sexual relations,” she continued, considering that it would be up to the court “to assess during the trial” the consequences of “[its] erotic purpose or not, just like the state of euphoria and agitation felt following the extraordinary sporting triumph” of the Spanish team.
Luis Rubiales, 46, continued to highlight in his defense his “emotion” during the coronation of “la Roja”, “a moment of happiness”, denying any “sexual connotation”. Initially refusing to resign for “a little consensual kiss”, he attacked five days later, in a resounding speech, what he called “false feminism”. Under pressure, he finally left office on September 10, saying he was the victim of a “disproportionate campaign.”
He has since been suspended for three years from all football-related activity by the International Football Federation, a decision he wants to appeal. Spanish justice also banned him from coming within 200 meters of Jenni Hermoso, 33, who despite herself has become a global symbol of the fight against sexual violence and was elected woman of the year 2023 by the Spanish edition of the prestigious American magazine GQ.
The requisitions of the prosecution of this Madrid court come two days after the release – pending his appeal trial – of Brazilian footballer Dani Alves, sentenced to four and a half years in prison at first instance for the rape of a young woman in Barcelona in December 2022.